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Fujifilm Finepix F100fd compact camera

Good performer

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To that list we can add what's modestly described as “the world’s most advanced face-detection technology”; a dual-mode image stabilisation based on both a mechanical CDD shift system and fast shutter speed; dynamic range settings for better contrast; 16 scene modes including, night, sport and portrait enhancer - but no food!; and a movie mode, which shoots 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 resolution clips at 30f/s. Still image resolution ranges from 4000 x 3000 pixels down to 640 x 480, with the highest resolution producing a file size of around 5MB.

Not exactly overburdened with controls

The F100fd uses what Fujifilm grandly describes as a “streamlined graphical user interface”. In fact, we rather like Fujifim’s approach to the menu system, although it’s not perfect. Switch on the camera and it takes around about two seconds to prepare for action. If you want to change shooting modes, you press the Menu/OK button in the centre of the wheel dial and you're presented with a series of icons, text, descriptions and menu images that tell you exactly what each function does. Use the wheel dial to scroll through the options - auto, manual, etc - and then press OK. It’s very simple.

However, if you then want to change certain parameters, you may have to navigate two more menu systems. For example, if you’re in manual mode and want to change the ISO speed or dynamic range setting, you press the F button and then scroll through the menu.

But if you want to change the white balance or exposure compensation, you press the Menu button and then select the shooting menu. We think Fujifilm could have designed the menus so that all these features were on a single menu – there’s plenty of space for additional functions on the menu list.

Battery and SDHC cards go here

Overall, though, the F100fd is an easy camera to use and features such as dual-shot mode - which takes two successive shots, one with flash, one without - and the ability to zoom and crop images in-camera to reduce their file size for posting online, a process called “Trimming for Blog”, are handy to have. You can even view up to 100 recorded images simultaneously on the LCD screen, though it helps if you have sharp eyes.